1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for removing material and more particularly, by not by way of limitation, to apparatus and methods for removing asbestos from walls without contaminating the ambient environment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is often necessary to remove various materials from their natural or fabricated locations, such as rock formations or interior building walls. For example, it is currently necessary to remove deposits of asbestos found in building materials which have been used in such places as schools. This necessity for asbestos removal has arisen from the discovery that asbestos is, or may be, a carcinogen. Thus, there is the need for an apparatus which can remove the desired materials by cutting, scraping, or otherwise removing, them from the desired locations.
To prevent the removed material from dispersing throughout the ambient environment and thereby possibly causing contamination, such as could occur with particles of asbestos, it is necessary to perform removal without allowing the removed particles arising from the cutting or other removing process to filter into the ambient environment. Thus, there is the need for the apparatus to contain the removed particles, such as by coagulating the particles into a bonded mass, and to withdraw them from the removal area.
Prior to using such an apparatus to remove material from a structure, it is necessary to determine if that particular structure contains any of the material desired to be removed. For example, some materials have the appearance of containing asbestos, but they are in fact non-asbestos materials. Therefore, there is the need for means for sampling the subject structure. This sampling means should provide for the obtaining of uniform bulk samples of the material of the subject structure and should provide for the safe containment of the sample if the material were dangerous.
That there is the general need for an apparatus for cutting or scraping a surface and removing the material therefrom is supported by U.S. Pat. No. 3,843,198 in the name of Reynolds. This patent discloses a rock sampling tool which cuts the rock from a surface and which uses an air stream to reduce dispersal of the resultant dust into the surrounding area.
Although the Reynolds patent discloses such a device, it will be noted that individual particles of dust resulting from the rock cutting operation may escape into the ambient environment without being drawn into the air stream of Reynold's device because of the tendency of certain substances to scatter or disperse upon being cut, scraped, or otherwise loosened. This is a critical shortcoming when the material to be removed is asbestos, for example, because the escape of even a few particles of asbestos can create a serious health hazard. Furthermore, the Reynolds reference fails to disclose a sampling container for extracting and safely holding a portion of the substance so that it can be analyzed. Therefore, I believe that the prior art fails to provide an apparatus for removing a material, such as asbestos, from a structure, such as the interior walls of a school, in which the material is located without allowing particles of the removed material to escape into the ambient environment.